The Stone Philospher
by Minisnare11
Summary: A Harry Potter-Twilight crossover set just after the Battle of Hogwarts. Bella is Minister for Magic and trying to build a quiet private life in Forks.
1. Chapter 1 - The Aftermath

**This is a small introductory chapter to The Stone Philosopher. More chapters are being edited right now and will be published soon. Enjoy!**

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Bella's shivering slowly subsided as she stood in front of the now-roaring fire in her kitchen. Her kitchen. It was painful to think of it like that, her Godfather, Sirius, had left the four story townhouse, to Bella in his will. One home to the Order of the Phoenix, Bella was now its sole occupant.

She couldn't tell how long she had sat at the long table in the stone kitchen, slowly freezing, before human instinct kicked in and told her to light the mammoth fire at the end of the room. It had been a long day, but one she could not yet bring herself to end with sleep. The "Battle of Hogwarts", as it had been named in the press, had been over for just forty-eight hours. Scars were still fresh across Bella's face and body, and her eyes were still tired from unstoppable tears that had flowed as she helped to recover the mountain of dead friends from the ruinous battle grounds. Despite what the papers were reporting, to Bella it did not feel like a victory, too many lives lost, too much pain inflicted. The horror was only now truly starting to sink in, as the shock wore off Bella's exhausted mind.

Bella retook her place at the table, as she moved aches and pains made themselves known throughout her body which was craving sleep that her mind was refusing it. She stared blankly at the assortment of letters, papers and notices strewn in front of her. Some were newspapers recounting the battle, some had lists of the many dead, some showed a woman's face, covered in dirt and blood, eyes dark and flicking wildly from left to right. She barely recognised her own face staring back at her, the headline reading "BELLA POTTER NEWLY ELECTED MINISTER FOR MAGIC".

This was perhaps the most surprising outcome from the recent events. Whilst Bella could only interpret the absolute horror, the destruction, the recklessness of her actions, somehow the ministry and the wizarding world had interpreted this as signs of effective leadership. The news had broken early this morning that Bella would be the new Minister for Magic. Bella smirked in dry humour as she contemplated the absurdity of this decision. But, humour flashed again across Bella's worn face, given the recent track record who would be a better poster girl for the Ministry for Magic other than Voldemort's single focus of murderous rage. At the thought of Voldemort's name the memory of the battle played fresh in Bella's mind. She relived the moment as Voldemort dissolved into thin air and fled along with his Nagini into the cold night air. Anger, hatred and frustration burned under Bella's skin, as she had to accept that this was far from over. Voldemort would come again. They would replay the pattern of Bella's childhood, where he would lie low, gain strength then reattempt to take Bella's life, to overthrow the ministry, and rule with his cruel hand, the wizarding world.

A strong defiance rose in Bella now, she knew she would not allow for anymore harm to come to her friends. She would lead the Ministry, she would find and kill Voldemort, but she would not allow the remaining people she loved to get caught up in the crossfire this time. He would keep coming back for her, this was certain, from the moment Bella had been born they had been like magnets, drawn together. But every time they came together new destruction radiated out from them, through Bella's family and friends. The lethargy that had almost been overwhelming her body since she had sat down left her suddenly, She knew that she must leave to keep them safe.

She flew around the house, pulling together her few belongings, a spare set of clothes, her trunk which had travelled with her since first year and piled them onto the stone hearth. She turned her attention to a shabby, dilapidated rucksack and rifled through the assorted contents until she found what she was looking for. The lease to a small house in Forks, Washington, soon to be her new home. She glanced around the kitchen one last time, sadness overwhelmed her as memories, moments of happiness played in the forefront of her mind. The faces of the Weasleys, Hermione, Sirius seemed almost touchable they were vivid to Bella. Finally, unable to bear those memories any longer, Bella grabbed a handful of flue powder from the jar atop the mantelpiece and threw herself into the flames.


	2. Chapter 2 - Safe as Houses

Bella tumbled clumsily out of the fire onto a cold wooden floor in the darkness. "Lumos" she whispered, as she removed her wand from what was once its hiding place up her left shirt sleeve, but was now ripped from wrist to elbow.

Using the glow from the tip of her wand she found her way to the light switch in the corner of the room. After flicking it on, she extinguished her wand and stowed it back safely under the leather band wrapped around her forearm. Now illuminated, Bella was able to take in the room around her. The warm bright light was spilling from a small understated chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Bella had clearly given the designers an overly large budget to furnish the house, Bella couldn't find fault in a single item, not that she would try to. The budget hadn't mattered to Bella though, enabling the designers to be self sufficient had been key to ensuring they wouldn't contact her with any follow up questions. Earlier in the year Bella had it prepared as a safe house when she was on the run with Ron and Hermione, but things had escalated before they had a chance to use it. All that preparation was coming in handy now though, Bella had a false identity, full bank account and furnished house ready to go. It was still a safe house in a sense, it was still her hiding place, her private place away from the ministry, the press and hopefully, any stray death eaters.

Bella made her way through the house, exploring, flicking on lights and drawing curtains as she went until she reached the bedroom. Turning on only the small bedside lamp she threw herself onto the soft mattress and stretched her entire body. She really was exhausted, and at last removed from any reminders of the previous day's events, she fell into a comfortable slumber.

The time from she had awoken, to where she stood now had passed in an anxious haze. Bella was standing in front of her new fireplace ready for her first day at work. She was dressed in plain black robes, she hoped looked both respectful and professional for both the situation and her position. She stepped carefully into the flames, just praying she would land on her feet at the other end.

By some miracle Bella remained upright as she strode from the fire into the Ministry of Magic. After just a few steps, however Bella came to a sudden stop. The Ministry was not the busy bustling business place she had once visited with Arthur Weasley. There was instead a thin line of wizards and witches lining the edge of the lobby. Mixed in with the ministry employees were cameras and journalists with quills quivering expectantly, clearly waiting for Bella to speak. The silence was painful as the anxiety from Bella's morning quadrupled its efforts, Bella was in no way prepared to give a speech. She should have seen this coming, how naive had she been to hope to sneak unnoticed into her office.

It took a few deep breaths before Bellas was able to string any coherent words together, but knowing her duty she began her speech. "I would like to thank those who did their duty in protecting Hogwarts and the wider magical community from Voldemort and his death eaters. We are now in a time of mourning for those who were lost, not only on that night, but at any time in this ongoing battle. We have a lot of work to do now, we must try those who have been imprisoned, restore that which has been damaged, and rebuild ourselves to be more than we were. We do not know when he will return, it could be tomorrow, it could next week, it may not be for years. But we must be prepared for when he does. This does not mean we should live in fear, he is just a man, he is no more powerful than us. We must not allow him to inflict any more pain and suffering upon us."

Bella paused, unsure what to say next, she didn't have a powerful closing line, she didn't want applause, she just wanted to get away. She summoned a few more lines to satisfy her waiting audience."More now than ever we must remember what is right, what makes us good, what makes us love and laugh, this we must not allow him to take from us. This time has been so dark, despairing and desolate, here, today, we must put an end to this reign of tyranny and put the wizarding world back to what it should be."

The crowd, realising Bella had finished talking slowly started to dissipate, which allowed Bella to make her getaway. As Bella pushed open the heavy wooden door, her eyes took in the shining metal plate that bore her name, she cringed away from the vulgarity of it. Taking her seat gingerly behind the stately desk, Bella felt more out of place than ever. She was only alone for a few seconds before two familiar faces blustered through the door. Ron threw himself into a chair, and a lounged lazily with one leg over the arm. Hermione quietly closed the door behind them and ran around to hug Bella before taking a seat beside Ron.

"Do we have to call you Minister then, Minister?" Ron asked sarcastically.

"Don't be ridiculous Ron, she's still Bella!" Hermione chided. But Bella smiled, glad that Ron's sense of humour broke the tension that had been building inside her.

"We'd better be going, we can't have the Minister and two key witnesses late for the first trial." Hermione stood robotically, clearly apprehensive about testifying. The first trial was that of Lucius Malfoy. Bella would be the judge of these trials, with the power to enforce whatever punishment the criminal advisors saw fit. Ron and Hermione would be witnesses, testifying to the fact that Lucius was in fact a Death Eater. Leaving the office, the trio exchanged small smiles, it was some comfort to be heading into this next chapter with two familiar comrades.

The trial was banal, uneventful really. Narcissa Malfoy added many theatrics, but ultimately Lucius was sentenced to just six months. Although he was a Death Eater there was no proof of any actual wrongdoing committed by him,. Lucius had managed to keep himself remarkably clean, no murders, no torture seemed to have been actually been committed by him.

"Being a bloody coward paid off in the end then" Ron remarked as they walked back to Bella's office after sentencing had taken place. The trial had taken all day, it was dinner time and Bella's thoughts turned to home. It seemed hermione had had the same thought.

"Are you coming to dinner with us tonight Bella?"

Bella didn't know if She could face another night with the Weasleys. Staying with them the first night after the battle had been more than she could bear. Molly and Arthur's grief for George was painful to witness, and Fred was still recovering, even magical first aid hadn't been enable to heal him instantly. But worse than that was watching Ron and Hermione together, watching Arthur and Molly lean on each other for support. Lupin and Tonks, Neville and Ginny, so many couples, families just beginning while Bella witnessed it all on her own.

Hermione seemed to read the agony on Bella's face. "It's fine if you don't, but you know you're always welcome don't you?" Hermione's face was creased with concern. Hermione seemed to sense where Bella's pain was coming from, but she didn't voice this out loud for which Bella was grateful.

"I'm fine thanks. I've got some stuff to sort out..." She trailed off, Bella's eyes didn't leave the floor, carefully taking in each marble tile before her foot made contact with them.

"I hate to think of you all alone in that big house" Hermione almost sighed. Bella hadn't mentioned her recent emigration yet and for some reason she didn't feel as though she really wanted to. Perhaps moving was a deliberate act of isolation, her small house in Forks an intimate indulgence in the simplicity of the muggle world.

"It's not so bad, it's nice to have a home, finally", Bella raised her eyes from the ground, her eyes met Hermione's and they exchanged a sad smile. Ron had remained silent and nonchalant through this last bit of the conversation. Dealing with emotions was Hermione's strength, and in that respect they were opposites, but balanced each other out perfectly. Now they had reached Bella's office door, where they paused each unwilling to say goodbye, but after a quick hug Ron and Hermione turned and left Bella to enter her office alone.

It seemed strange that so soon after the chaos, the Minister could simply oversee a trial and then go home for dinner. But the truth was that any remaining Death Eaters had disappeared as completely as Voldemort had. Hogwarts was being rebuilt by the second and was now functioning again, McGonagall had seen to that. In reality, apart from for the casualties and their families, life was returning to normal far quicker than Bella would have predicted. Life carried on despite the ever present threat of death that hung over them. Bella gathered her few papers and tidied them away, filing the notes from today in the large cabinet that obscured the ornate hatstand, which her outer robes hung from, in the corner.

"Home time", Bella thought as she pulled on her robes and stepped into the flames once more.


	3. Chapter 3 - Magic in Forks

**I've chosen to break the story up into small chapters to make it easy to read. Feel free to give me any feedback in the reviews!**

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Six pm. Dinner time. Bella changed quickly out of her robes and decided she would make her way to the local supermarket, if you could call it that. It was more a glorified corner shop if you were being honest, but it would do. Bella had to make the ten minute journey on foot, she hadn't got around to purchasing a car yet, having never needed one before. But if she was going to keep up the muggle facade she couldn't just apparate into the middle of the town, or fly on her broomstick to the shops. It wasn't long until Bella turned onto the high street, she was pushed by a growing wind and the temperature was dropping as the sky darkened above her, so she had hurried along keeping her head down. Now she reached the more sheltered street, protected by buildings, some of which were shops, on each side. The glow coming from the little shop was inviting and the warmth seemed almost tangible even from some 200 yards away.

Bella managed to fill two shopping bags with essentials she thought she would need to get her through the week, chicken for tonight, pasta and rice to keep in the cupboard, a selection of fruits and vegetables. Just enough to keep her going, Bella knew the food from the ministry canteen would be her staple diet. As she turned coming out of the door ready to begin the short walk home, something caught her eye that made a shiver run down her spine.

It was an uncanny sensation as Bella did not know what had caused it, but at the same times she was all too familiar with the feeling. It was the same as when she had been approached by dementors on the Hogwarts Express, it was the same feeling as when she had descended into the depths of the chamber of secrets, the same feeling as when Bella and Dumbledore had travelled across the lake. It was fear, an innate, inherent feeling from deep within Bella's being. Instinct told Bella to grab her wand, but she couldn't do that, laboured as she was with her shopping bags. She was also acutely aware of the muggles in the area, the shop keeper, the other customers, the teenagers lounging on benches near the road. The Minister for Magic couldn't break the simplest of rules, not again anyway. This thought occupied Bella's mind for long enough to allow logic to kick in, and Bella scanned the area to try and figure out what it was that had triggered these feelings. She began to take slow steady steps in the direction of her house, hoping she just looked tired, and the bags heavy, she must not draw any attention to herself. She scanned the surrounding area for any signs of a magical presence. There had been nothing to alert her senses to any other witches or wizards in the immediate area, and the data she had access to at the Ministry had confirmed that she was the only witch who had a residence in the area. So what had caused her reaction?

At this moment a shiny, silver Volvo pulled out from the side of the road and sped past her before it turned the corner and disappeared from view. Whatever was inside that car caused Bella to freeze. Her heart rate sped, but her limbs were frozen in place, her feet immovable as though they had been set in the concrete beneath her feet. It took a long moment for the feeling to wear off, as the car no doubt got further and further away from her. Slowly she regained control of her body and took a few tentative steps forwards, and once she was sure her legs were capable of holding herself up, she all but sprinted home.

Once inside the warm bright kitchen. Bella's body robotically put away her groceries while her mind considered the many possibilities of the Volvo's driver. It could not have been a Death Eater, or Voldemort, her scar hadn't even twinged, and she knew for certain there was no magical presence in forks apart from herself. It was an isolated corner of the world far enough away from any wizarding governments to be uninhabited by even the most unsociable of wizards. Except herself that is.

After many anxious hours of pacing around the small house, Bella concluded that there was nothing more to be done tonight. She climbed into bed and slept uneasily, her dreams filled with a faceless monster, terror from an unknown source.


	4. Chapter 4 - War of Independance

At seven-thirty am, Bella was sitting in her office, coffee cup in hand, pouring over the records she had managed to dig up about Forks, Washington. She had got her hands on census information, the latest from just two years ago. There was nothing suspicious in what she had read so far. It was your typical small town, families, teachers, store owners, students, a few tradesmen. There was a reservation just a few miles west along the sea front, they seemed to have an even more isolated community consisting of just a handful of family names. Most families had lived in the area for generations it would seem, except for one. The Cullen family, they had moved there just before the most recent census had been taken. There was nothing suspicious on the face of it though, the head of the house was a doctor, working at the local hospital, the children, all adopted, had just graduated high school, some of which would now be off at university no doubt. But there was something strangely familiar that had made Bella pause on a particular page.

Bella continued to stare at the page in a sleepy stupor until a blast of cool air made her look up..

Hermione and Ron entered taking the same positions as yesterday on the chairs in front of the desk.

"Hi Bella, you look… awful" Ron could be counted on to tell the truth at least.

"Is everything okay Bella, I heard today's trial was cancelled. What happened?" Hermione's question pulled a slither of information from the back of Bella's brain to the forefront. "A fight broke out in the holding cells, two death eaters are dead". Bella stated the facts with a numb indifference. A prison guard (a new addition to the ministry as dementors could no longer be trusted) had tentatively knocked on Bella's office door shortly after she had arrived, unable to sleep any longer, and informed her of the news. Hermione had wrongly assumed that Bella's tired appearance (who knows what else was written across her face) was due to the Death Eater, she didn't suspect that anything else could be the cause.

"Saving us the trouble of sitting through another trial at least", Ron said with undisguised delight. "I don't know if could make it through another day of someone trying to convince me a Death Eater makes a good father". Hermione scowled at him, Narcissa's pleas had clearly been lost on Ron but not on her. Hermione's tearful reaction in the courtroom had been one of the reasons Bella had agreed to a smaller sentence for Lucius. Maybe it was wrong to punish a family for just one member's actions.

"Shame they won't get what they deserve though, they need to rot in prison for the rest of their lives, not get the easy way out". Hermione's scowl intensified at Ron's words, but Bella couldn't help but agree. She felt vividly the pain that she and her friends had been through at the hands of Voldemort and his Death Eaters and knew in reality that no punishment would be great enough for that.

"What's with all the paperwork?" Ron quickly changed the subject after a quick glance at Hermione's face.

"I…" Bella didn't know quite how to explain. "Have you ever heard of Carlisle Cullen?" Trying to give up the smallest piece of information possible, she thought that if anyone else would remember where she had heard the name it would be Hermione.

Hermione sighed, exasperated, "did you not pay any attention in History class?, Carlisle Cullen was a member of the Volturi in the 1700s." Hermione raised her eyebrows as she took in the blank looks on Bella and Ron's faces, Hermione continued. "The Volturi, the vampires governing body. Carlisle Cullen was a member back when vampires were ruled by the Ministry of Magic. Surely you remember when we studied the Vampire War of Independence 1758-1759. Hundreds of witches and wizards lost their lives, as did many vampires. The Minister for Magic at the time decided it was better to allow them to rule independently than lose any more lives. It was rumoured that Carlisle left the Volturi shortly after, but the terms of independence forced the Ministry to keep its distance so we don't really know who is in the Volturi at the moment."

Vampires. That would certainly explain Bella's reaction to the silver Volvo, an image that was etched in her mind.

"Why do you want to know about him?" Hermione asked, her eyes searching the scattered papers for an answer to her question.

Bella quickly pulled the papers together and shoved them in a drawer as she answered. " I just came across the name , it sounded familiar is all." Luckily for Bella, Hermione didn't get a chance to probe any further. As soon as Bella had finished speaking Gilda, the Minister's secretary knocked and entered with Bella's schedule for the day. After a quick glance Bella stood and announced, "looks like I'd better get going, can't keep McGonagall waiting!" Bella's schedule had filled up as quickly as it had been cleared earlier. She had to attend the official reopening of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The professors had done an impeccable job, to anyone unfamiliar with how it used to look, the devastation inflicted in the last week would have been impossible to detect. But to Bella the differences were obvious, clean new stone replaced the weathered walls of the castle, empty stretches of walls where paintings, centuries old, once were. Worst of all was the absence of familiar faces, many of the older students and existing professors had either been lost in the battle or had left the school, trying to escape to somewhere safe. Each professor and student that remained was dressed entirely in black, mourning this loss. Bella toured the school, allowing herself to be shown each new addition and greeted each member of staff pleasantly. She posed for photos for the quibbler, and even offered a line or two for the eager reporters. As lunchtime approached everybody gathered in the great hall for a spectacular feast, McGonagall had insisted that they put on their best show for the reopening. All too soon it was time for Bella to depart, she said her goodbyes and managed to excuse herself from the festivities alone.

Before she left the castle Bella had an unscheduled stop she wanted to make. Using secret passages she had learnt about during her years here, Bella slipped silently across the castle into the restricted section of the library. Scanning shelf after shelf of heavy, leather bound books, it took Bella about 10 minutes to find what she was looking for. She gripped the black heavy volume tightly and, unnoticed she slipped back out of the castle grounds. At the gates she looked back and could just make out a huddle of confused reporters, no doubt hoping for another snapshot of the new Minister. Bella silently prayed that the "Girl who Lived" becoming Minister for Magic would grow old, and fast. She wasted no more time, and with a muffled 'crack' apparated back to her office.

The remainder of the day passed without incident. Bella had a budget meeting to weigh up the costs of the new prison system, and a presentation given by the head aurors on the strategy they had come up with to capture the remaining Death Eaters. The latter of these was far more interesting to Bella than the first. Her ambition to become an auror allowed her to imagine herself in their place as they discussed strategy, ambushes and traps. For the first time since she had become. Minister she felt as though she wasn't merely acting and actually adding something of value. Her months on the run and experience in combat allowed her to contribute and challenge constructively as she reviewed their plans. She made a silent mental note to make these meetings a priority whenever they appeared on her agenda. However, a small part of her brain was focused on the black book safely locked in the top drawer of her desk, nestled in amongst the paperwork that bore Carlisle's name.

It wasn't until all her meetings were done Bella could finally turn her full attention to the contents of "Vampires: The complete guide.". Not wanting to be disturbed, Bella extinguished the main lights and locked her door with a flick of her wand. Illuminated by just the light at the tip of her wand she began to read. The book covered everything you needed to know about vampires, their political history, myths around their original creation, which spells were effective on them and which ones weren't. Bella skimmed through most of it, only pausing when something caught her eye, she let the book fall open on a page entirely taken up by an image. It was of four vampires, all smiling, one waving, on a balcony. They were dressed in long robes, the black and white photograph didn't hint at the colouring, but the caption belonging to this image told Bella that they were dressed in red to celebrate the independence, the photo was dated August 1759. The names of the vampires were also included, Aro, Marcus, Caius and Carlisle.

Bella sat motionless taking in every detail of the image. Her mind trying to process the fact that an ex member of the volturi was living down the road from her. Logically, as far as the book had stated, there was no real reason for witches or wizards to be afraid of vampire. With the correct preparation there were plenty of spells and enchantments that could repel a vampire attack. However Bella couldn't shake the memory of the feeling that had engulfed her as the Volvo had passed. She idly considered why a vampire would even need a car, but understanding registered quickly, exactly for the reason she needed one, it was part of the disguise. Her mind was working fast, as another thought popped into her head, she dug out the census she had shoved in the drawer, frowning as new confusion took over. But there it was in black and white in front of her. Carlisle Cullen, Profession: Doctor. Now she'd seen it all, maybe she was losing her mind. A vampire couldn't be a doctor surely, all the blood he would be exposed too. The thought brought many unpleasant images into Bella's mind. Unless of course he still had magical help. Something else Bella had discovered in her reading was that animal blood could be enchanted, and when consumed it dulled the instinct that drove vampires to crave human blood, it was basically a glorified sedative, it numbed their senses, and had been used as a way for wizards to control the vampire population. Regular consumption had impaired the speed, strength, and instincts that separated vampires from the rest of humanity on a near permanent basis. Curiosity mingled with fear as Bella considered the possibility of a Vampire doctor.


End file.
